8th grade student 10/28/2016 Per. 4 How the Constitution protects

8th grade student

10/28/2016

Per. 4

How the Constitution protects against tyranny essay

Tyranny is an harsh and absolute power in hands of one individual like king or dictator, it

is still possible to have tyranny of the few, when several generals or strong religious leaders

seize control or tyranny of the many, when the majority denies rights of the minority. In 1787 fifty

five delegates representing the thirteen states established a meeting in Philadelphia in attempt

to fix the national government, which at the time was Articles of Confederation. One problem

with the Articles of Confederation was that it had no chief executive, which was a problem

because the role of the president holds a lot of power and responsibility and without it there’d be

no control over executive branch, no representative of the nation, and no leader in other major

aspects of government. Another problem with the state representation before the constitution

was that there was no way of collecting taxes, which was a problem because it limited the

money which could be used as a resource for improving public communities, schools, parks,

libraries etc., it also was a problem because it limited the salary in some jobs.The three main

ways the Constitution protects against tyranny are by using Federalism to make the state

government more powerful and balance it with the central government, equally dividing the

power of government between the three branches and making it possible for the three branches

of government to check each other and preventing one of the branches from gaining too much

power.

Federalism is included in the Constitution to protect the United States from tyranny.

Document A suggests that “the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two

distinct governments - state and federal” and “Hence a double security arises to the rights of the

people.The different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will

be controlled by itself”. These quotes show the reader that the Constitution protects against

tyranny because it divides government into state and central, this type of government is also

called Federalism. This type of compound government protects against tyranny by preventing

central government from gaining too much power and gives the states some power too. For

example the states are able to set up local governments, hold elections, establish schools

regulate in-state businesses and pass marriage and divorce laws while the central government

can regulate trade, conduct foreign relations, provide army and navy, declare wars print and

coin money etc. This shows that the states have power to control anything inside their state and

the central government is responsible for international transactions.

A second way Constitution protects against tyranny is that it divides the government into

three subsections, branches, which are - Legislative, Executive and Judicial. According to the

document B “Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and

distinct”. This quote is significant to show the Constitution protects against tyranny because it

prevents one branch from becoming too powerful and validating our rights or the rights of other

branches. Each of the three branches has its subsections and representatives, like Legislative

branch is divided into Congress and Senate, Executive branch has Executive and Cabinet

departments and JUdicial branch has the Supreme court and other smaller courts. Also one

person elected to the House of Representatives can’t work at the Supreme Court at the same

time, because if they did it would give one person way too much power over certain aspects.

The last way the Constitution protects against tyranny is checks and Balances, meaning

one of the branches can check or in some parts control the other branch. The document claims

that “The three branches should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control

over each other.” The quote shows the reader that the Constitution protects against tyranny by

making it possible for one of the branches to check the other branches work and preventing one

of the branches from gaining too much power. Also the states with the bigger population can

have more representatives in the Congress which gives them more power than the small states,

but small states have more power in the Senate which makes the power between the small and

large states equal out.

In conclusion, the three main ways the Constitution protects against tyranny are

Federalism, the division of government into three branches, the checks and balances and the

regulation of power between the small and large states. The Constitution divides the

government into central and state, it divides the powers of government between the three

branches and the three branches are able to check on each other's work. As Americans it is

important to care about the Constitution because it protects our human rights, and makes the

government more organized and fair. It is good that there is no tyranny in U.S.A. because

tyranny validates our rights, involves cruel punishment and prevents the nation from growing.